If We Only Knew
by ShadowIceDancer
Summary: Akari called in a favor to Koenma, hiding in the Human World from the thousands after her psychic powers. But once her "brother" becomes the new Spirit Detective, she reunites with a past lover as well as a threat to her future happiness.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** Hey everyone, just want to make a couple things clear without trying to spoil anything. Mainly, I know how many Kurama/OC storys there are out there, and I thank anyone who took the time to check out mine. In this one, my OC has a history that didn't involve constant fawning over our hero. Most parts of her history will be explained shortly, and I plan to make her history very dark. So please enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** Guess I should do this... I do not, nor will I ever own this anime. I only own Kaya. (And maybe a couple future characters...)

* * *

"Yusuke, wake up! Yusuke, please!"

'_Oh not again,'_ I thought as I rolled out of bed. Every morning since my idiot brother woke up from his "coma", mom has gone into his room to wake him up for fear he would go back into a "coma". And of course, she would do this at 6 in the morning, thus waking me up. I did have my own fears waking me up, however. Demons from my early life you could say. But thanks to this "early life", I knew exactly what had happened to my brother. He hadn't been in a coma; he had been dead and then brought back to life.

Yes, the legends were true. About the human, demon, and spirit worlds. When Yusuke was hit by that car, it wasn't his time to die. So, the spirit prince Koenma gave him a second chance at life. And I got to hear the whole story from the prince himself. It was the prelude (a very long prelude) to the point of why I needed to keep an eye on my delinquent brother until he is informed of his first mission as the new spirit detective, which should be soon. Of course, now Koenma owes me another HUGE favor since he told Yusuke the basics of my background – without my permission.

"Yes mother, I'm alive, just like yesterday," I heard from the room next door. _'I guess it's time to try to stop the waterworks. But hey, at least she's sober… I think.'_

* * *

"It is your first day back, you have to go!"

"Absolutely not! I just got back from the dead; I don't think it's necessary for me to go!"

"Fine. I'll just call Keiko."

"You wouldn't. That's a low blow, Kaya," he scowled.

I smirked, knowing I had won. At the first mention of his girlfriend he returned to looking like a ghost. Served him right, too, after he so discretely (more like blatantly) lied and told a couple of the boys at school I was 'feeling frustrated' and 'needed to let loose'.

I will never forget the rumors that floated around for the next few weeks.

"You would know about low blows, wouldn't you?" I couldn't resist taunting.

The walk to school was boring as usual, minus the fact that everyone was staring at us. Well, not us. Just at Yusuke. I was just walking right next to him.

I could hear each whisper. Not that any of them knew I could. Oh the joys of being from the demon world.

All of the students were saying that they thought the delinquent was dead. For once they were right. Fortunately, Keiko didn't ask questions like these people were, although a peek inside her head told me she knew something was up.

I turned back to my brother. "Yusuke, please don't make your first day back harder than it has to be," I quietly requested.

"Meaning what?" he shot back at me. That reply got my back up.

"Meaning don't ditch class to go nap on the roof and don't go causing trouble. There's the bell. I will see you bright eyed in second period." With a final glare I turned and walked off to homeroom.

By lunch I am happy to say that everything appeared to be normal again. I had been asked out on a date by about twenty different boys from my own personal fan club, Yusuke was actually listening to mine and Keiko's berating, and delinquent number two of the school, Kuwabara, had challenged Yusuke five times only to be ignored. Sadly though, I knew it couldn't last.

At the beginning of next period, several students discovered some of their belongings were missing. Taking a wild stab at who was blamed for the crimes, I asked the teacher if I could go check on my brother.

As I got closer to the principal's office, I could hear voices shouting. _'Doesn't that idiot know not to yell at teachers yet?'_ I groaned in my head. I went around the last corner and realized it was Yusuke and Mr. Iwamoto yelling at each other with poor Mr. Takanaka watching helplessly. _'Might as well help the poor man.'_

"What is going on here?" They both stopped yelling at my quiet command and all three turned to me. Even though I played the role of a Jr. High girl, after nearly two thousand years of living, I had some sense of authority to my voice that even the teachers here respected. Needless to say, I got away with a lot.

"It would appear that Mr. Urameshi has stolen some items from his fellow students," our principal explained.

"Appear? I would say he did. Probably learned from his tramp mother." I saw the smirk on Iwamoto's face and knew he wanted a reaction. Although I was rather ticked at what he said, I had to stop what I saw Yusuke was going to do. It would just get him in more trouble.

"You can do whatever you want to me, but don't say anything about my mom!" Yusuke growled out as he went into fight mode. I got ready to lunge at him and just as he was about to give Mr. Iwamoto a right hook into next week, everything froze.

"Yusuke!" We both looked up in shock to see a floating spirit prince.

"Koenma?" We both shouted.

"Yusuke, have I got a big case for you! Oh, hello Kaya."

I felt an eye twitch. _'Thank you for making me feel so loved, Koenma. I work for you, too. Please acknowledge that.'_

He went right on ignoring me. "Three criminals broke into my father's vault, stole the Artifacts of Darkness, made slush out of the guards, and escaped to human world!"

"Can't you see I'm busy here?!"

"What about me, huh Yusuke?" I was trying to help him here! And I don't usually like being ignored by family and employers. Not that all the yelling we were doing was getting anyone anywhere.

"Yeah, her too." _'Thaaaanks…'_ "Now can you come back later? I need to deal with my own theft case."

Koenma about had a hissy fit. He pointed at Iwamoto. "Well there's your culprit, right there! Take out your psychic spyglass and look in his left pocket."

Yusuke did what Koenma said and lo and behold, there were the stolen items.

"Always knew he was a scumbag." I saw Yusuke nod his head in agreement.

"Great, now hurry up and do your thing!" _'Whiny little brat.'_

The teachers started to unfreeze and Yusuke wrestled the items out of Mr. Iwamoto's pocket. He finally held up the stolen dragon pen. Mr. Takanaka glared at the other man.

"An explanation, Mr. Iwamoto?"

"Isn't it obvious? This delinquent planted it in my pocket. I'm so disgusted by this I can't even look at him." Mr. Iwamoto started to walk away, followed by the principal.

Yusuke went slack jawed. "He set me up!"

"Yes, Yusuke. Now go to work!"

"Ok, ok. But before that, revenge." Boys and their violence. Time to step in.

"You can't just hit a teacher, Yusuke. Koenma, he's spirit detective, can't he just use the spirit gun?"

"I was getting to that! You just spoiled the surprise!"

"What's a spirit gun?"

"Something I can't use," I muttered.

"Don't be bitter. Not all kinds of psychics can use this. Only a few have the spirit energy for it."

"Well nah, nah. And I'm not bitter. I can still stop a spirit gun in its tracks."

"Fascinating." _'And toddlers can't pull off sarcasm.'_

"Will somebody tell me what in the world a spirit gun is?!"

Koenma sighed. "Control your spirit energy and gather it into your right index finger. Your finger should start to feel warm. When you're ready, aim and pull the trigger in your mind."

Yusuke followed his instructions and fired right at Iwamoto's back. Next thing we knew, he was face planted in the floor.

Yusuke looked amazed. "Wow. It worked."

"Yes. That is your spirit gun. Now for the moment, you can only use it once a day, until you get stronger."

"Great. Hey, can you use this Kaya?"

I groaned. _'He's just gonna rub it in now.'_ Out loud I said, "No, Yusuke. I have yet to be able to work on it, and I probably never will. I'm a demon, and a psychic one at that. I'm too busy with my own powers." This was true. I use one of my abilities at every second, even in my sleep. I was always looking into someone's mind to see why they were laughing or checking the future to make sure nothing caught me off guard – like Yusuke jumping out of a bush at me. But always something. If everything stayed in my head to long, my powers would try to force their way out, making everything go haywire. This was known from personal experience.

"Yes, now follow me so we can discuss what needs to be done."

We followed the floating toddler outside and into a shed at the end of the school's property. We went inside and made ourselves comfortable (or as comfortable as you can in an old dirty shed) as Koenma conjured up images of what we would be going after.

The Artifacts of Darkness.

"Please remember, your chief concern is recovery of these items."

He then proceeded to inform us of each of the three items' abilities. I had heard rumors about the artifacts while I was still in the Makai, but Yusuke, who would have never heard of them, had a drier opinion.

"Cheery. Who came up with those names?"

"Understand Yusuke, these items were forged from darkness and help keep the light and dark in balance. If used in the wrong hands, these items could tip the scale toward evil and take countless lives."

"Why is it always 'good and evil' and needing to 'save countless lives'? It's never simple." Always, always it's like this. In all the years I had worked for Spirit world…

"Shut up, Kaya. Get them Yusuke. You're our best chance while they're on earth."

"Say no more. You brought me back to life, I guess I can do something to earn my keep."

"About time you did. Feels like I do everything at home." Yes, I was snippy. They weren't exactly being nice to me.

"Anyway, you're our best hope, Yusuke. Kaya, I want you to go with him and help anyway that you can. You have experience with demon thieves. Rather more experience than I would care for, but all the same. Good luck."

'_I wish I could throw something at him…'_ Instead of acting out the thought, I turned to Yusuke. "So my dear Spirit Sherlock, where to first?"

A couple of hours later…

"How do we find them? There are just a bunch of rich kids here! 'We think they're somewhere in uptown.' Some help that was!"

"You are overreacting, Yusuke. I have already seen that something will happen here. When they are nearby, we'll know. They were able to get into the spirit world vaults, so they're going to have high energy levels. Even if they were able to hide their energy, I at least should be able to find them a good half mile away, especially with all these humans – demon energy should stand out, not to mention the smell. I just hope they aren't smart enough to hide their energy."

"Great."

I began running my hands through my hair while I thought. What I had said was a worrisome prospect. If they were like any of the thieves that I used to know, they would be either flaunting the theft or covering everything down to their toe prints. If they were good thieves they would be doing both. Of course, no one was better than HIM.

My hands froze. There was a split second of a huge flare of energy. The people around us started shouting and gathering around something. My brother and I looked at each other before taking off toward the group of people. We pushed our way though the crowd only to see a young boy passed out on the ground. A small puff of white started to float off through the crowd.

"Yusuke, do you see that?" I grabbed his arm and pointed. "It must be that boy's soul."

"Meaning that the Orb of Baast is nearby. And that folks, is our first clue." We both stood up and ran after the soul. We ended up down a dark ally with a bunch of low down thugs. Something quickly caught my eye and mind. I leaned over to whisper to Yusuke.

"Yusuke, that guy over there has horns. Not to mention flipping through the last couple minutes of memories shows that he was waiting for that soul." _'And his energy,' _I thought._ 'Not that Yusuke can sense it yet.'_

"You had me at horns. I see them too."

"Check his pockets with your spyglass."

He pulled it out only to prove that this was who we were after. The man got up and started to leave with us right behind him, until one of the thugs that were standing around put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, you two got any cash I could use?" His grip tightened on me. "Or other things." He leered at me.

'_Ewwww, a greasy haired freak is touching me.'_ "Yusuke, can we hurry?"

"Sure thing."

A few kicks and right hooks later, we took off in the direction we saw the demon leave.

Once we left town and entered the woods, we stopped for a minute. Rain was just starting to fall.

"Great, we're gonna lose his tracks."

"Rain won't wash away energy. But I do think we should hurry. Something about this mission is giving me an eerie feeling."

"Like one of your visions or…?" I did appreciate the effort Yusuke was putting forward to accept what he had learned about me. I had hidden my history for fourteen years and he still was just fine with calling me his twin. Although, I still got to hear all the 'respect your elders' crap from him. It was only by twelve minutes. And I was technically two thousand years old. But I guess he was born before me… confusing.

I ran an agitated hand through my hair. "Not like a vision… more like déjà vu. Like I'm about to repeat something. It gives me the chills."

He looked faintly surprised. "Then let's hurry and finish up."

We continued deeper into the woods until we saw a spot without rain. Yusuke must not have seen weirder things.

"That's odd." He started toward it with me close behind.

I could feel plenty of energy as we got closer – obviously our thieves. Eventually we could make out voices. It sounded like arguing. We ducked behind a tree to watch.

"Guess we came at a bad time," I whispered.

"Then it's the perfect time to interrupt," he smirked.

'_Oh dear. He doesn't know how angry demons can get. Guess it's a good time for him to learn.'_

Yusuke walked right up to the clearing the criminals were in. I decided to stay back and scout out our thieves.

"Excuse me, neighbors," he said. I could now see who these demons were. One I recognized instantly. It was the guy we had followed here, Gouki. I had taken him into spirit world custody a couple of years ago. The other two I wasn't sure about. I could only tell that they were powerful – or would be one day.

Yusuke continued talking once he had their attention. "Couldn't help but notice there's no rain falling here. Maybe the next time you guys go stealing some magic toys, you should hide where it's not so obviously sunny. Just a tip."

'_Cocky to the end,'_ I sighed.

The short demon in black spoke. "Who are you and how do you know about the artifacts?"

'_And I thought Yusuke sounded full of himself.'_

"Yeah," Gouki demanded. "Give us your name!"

"Oh thanks. I was hoping you'd ask."

'_And sound the fanfare…'_ I thought with a groan.

"Hello boys! The name's Yusuke. I'm a Spirit Detective."

'_At least he didn't mention me.' _It wouldn't be good if demons found out where I was currently living.

Gouki seemed concerned, but the one in black told him not to worry. However, I didn't appreciate him calling my position 'one of Koenma's fools'.

While this was happening, the third thief, a red headed man, turned to leave. Yusuke actually noticed.

"Hey, where are you going?!"

As the man disappeared into the woods he said "Sorry. I don't have time to be arrested."

I got that eerie feeling again. I knew that voice from somewhere. And the faint energy coming from him… it was slightly off, but it almost felt like…

"Stop, Kurama. You can't just walk out on our plan!" the short one shouted as he disappeared into the forest as well. I barely noticed; everything seemed a little fuzzy.

'_He… he just said… but, but… he's dead! There's no way! And that looked nothing like… but his energy was so freaking similar! How is that possible?'_

I quickly went into Yusuke's mind. _"Yusuke, I need to see Koenma _now_. Can you handle Gouki on your own?"_

He looked surprised for a moment before he figured out I was in his head. _"Yeah, sure. Are you ok?"_

I didn't answer. I was already on my way to find a portal to spirit world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the anime, only Kaya. I am just messing with the characters.

Thank you for clicking on my story. Please enjoy.

* * *

As soon as I was through the portal I was running. I burst through Koenma's office doors, startling the spirit prince.

"Hello Kaya. What are you doing here? Weren't you with Yusuke?"

"Who are they Koenma? And why is that boy using HIS name?!"

I was in Koenma's face and he looked dead scared about it. My eyes must have been turning black, but I was to upset to care.

"Calm down Kaya, and I will explain."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!?! Someone is using his name! That's his name! He's gone and someone's using his name!" I was shrieking by now. I vaguely noticed Koenma's paperwork flying around the room, as well as a couple of potted plants rise up and slam into the wall. Several ogres ran out of the room to avoid being hit.

Koenma stood on his desk in front of me. "Akari Calm Down!"

That got my attention. No one had used my real name in nearly six years, when I came to spirit world for the first time in this life.

"Thank you. That yelling could wake the dead! No pun intended."

"Har, har. Now explain." I felt a little light headed. That overuse of power and emotion couldn't have been a healthy thing to do.

He took a deep breath. "Ok, here's the run down. You already know about Gouki - you arrested him for me a couple of years ago. The short one with spiky black hair is Hiei, a fire demon. We don't know much about him, but he is said to be a real cut throat demon. Now the last one… I don't quite know how to explain this."

"Just say it, Koenma." I said through gritted teeth. I was right at the edge.

"The other thief is called Kurama. We know next to nothing about him. But to answer your previous questions, Youko Kurama's soul was never ferried. He is still alive. We believe his soul is in the red headed thief's body."

This was too much. I had spent sixteen years thinking he was dead. I saw how he would die, how nothing I could try would change that fact. And now someone chooses to tell me that my mate is actually alive?!

"Um… Kaya? Are you ok?"

'_Why are there two Koenmas?'_ is the last thing I remember thinking.

* * *

"To think, now I have to watch over two detectives! And I thought you could take care of yourself Akari!" I heard a voice say. It sounded like…

"Botan?"

"Oh, your finally awake." I opened my eyes to see the blue haired grim reaper standing over me. Behind her I recognized my room. Someone must have brought me home.

"What happened?"

"You fainted while talking to Koenma. He said his news was a huge shock if it made even a demon faint. What did he tell you, anyway?"

Botan had been my good friend for centuries; ever since the first time I had gone to stay in spirit world. She had told me everything and I had told her everything, which she surprisingly kept a secret if I asked her to. So I guess she should know this, too. I had gone straight to her after I saw Youko really had been shot. She had held me while I cried.

"He told me my mate's soul is in a human's body. Our red headed thief to be exact."

"What?! Youko Kurama is still alive? How?" She looked shocked.

I really wasn't sure, but I could guess.

"Well, he was originally a spirit, so he probably hid in a human's body while he recovered." This wasn't unheard of. Demons just thought it was demeaning.

Botan sat for a minute contemplating the possibility. "Wow. I would have thought he was too proud to do that," she admitted.

"I would have thought that as well, but he would probably have wanted to live more. Remember, he has a lot of sins to repent for. I highly doubt he was prepared to face his final judgment. Now how about we go check on my brother while you fill me in on what happened to him and Gouki?" I really needed to calm down more before discussing this in depth. It would probably turn very emotional.

Turns out when we walked into his room, Yusuke was already awake, with mother dearest crying over him again. Fortunately, she stopped crying when she saw us, just to start fawning over Botan. Mom eventually left to make tea, leaving Botan to finally explain what had happened to Yusuke and what still needed to be done.

Our discussion was cut short by a familiar description on the news report mom was watching. It was a report about children in the area falling comatose.

"Sounds like Gouki's having lunch," Yusuke grumbled.

"In the past he's taken souls much more slowly, but with the Orb of Baast it's much easier. He can take all he wants." Even Botan sounded dejected. I suddenly thought of something disturbing.

"Botan? How long do those souls have?" She looked slightly confused.

"Uh… about a day, I believe."

Yusuke was quickly up and about to walk out the door.

"You can't go after him, you're not recovered yet." Botan caught on to what he was planning before I got to him.

Yusuke started to look upset. "I'm not sure how this works, but isn't it better to be dead than to lose your soul? You can't even become a ghost!" he gained a look of determination. "Plus, I haven't used my spirit gun today."

Botan pulled out an item from her pocket. "Here's your concentration ring, Yusuke. It will give your spirit gun a punch, but you'll be done for the day afterwards."

"Yeah, so only use it as a last resort. I don't want to take over your fight without my powers fully under control again."

"Got it," he yelled running out the door.

"You know what; I'm going make sure he doesn't mess this up. You and I will discuss your fox problems later."

"Fine, Botan. I'll come join you when he's done with Gouki."

She gave me a concerned look. "You're really not at top notch right now, huh?"

"I'll be fine. Go help the idiot," I said with a wave. Right after, she was gone.

'_Now, what to do, what to do… I haven't screwed with anyone's sanity lately, I could do that. It doesn't take too much to mess with the human mind… it would be good to practice what I can use at the moment.'_

* * *

I ended up at the park, taking a more serious train of thought than I had previously planned. I found an empty bench and folded my legs under me. I opened my palms to the sky and closed my eyes, letting my senses range out and take in everything, my mind opening to all the thoughts swirling around me. Those thoughts soon faded into the background, letting in all the possibilities of the future. No matter how many times I had done this over the years, each time still amazed me. The sudden rush of infinity that I saw in my mind… nothing could ever compare.

Soon all the sounds, smells, and feelings were gone; everything was concentrated in my mind. I let myself drift.

The small visions came first – the clear ones that showed someone's car stalling at the next light, a gust of wind opening a door letting a cat run out, Yusuke dumping half of his popcorn on Keiko in the middle of a movie – the ones that can easily change and had little effect on life as a whole. I slowly let my mind wander deeper. I was rarely able to get far past this point lately, but this time I encountered no obstructions.

Hazy pictures began to flow through my mind's eye. Vague outlines started to appear, indistinct sounds almost inaudible and not _quite_ matching up with the outlines. I could nearly see one of the buildings that would be built at a new construction site come into focus when a small tug came to the back of my mind. I focused there instead.

The tug became more insistent the more I focused on it. It almost felt like the tugging wanted me to keep coming after it.

But I went to close. I was suddenly smacked out of my floating state and back into the quickly filling park. I blinked my eyes a couple times to make sure all of the black had faded from my irises and unfolded myself from the bench. That tugging… I needed to find a quiet spot were I could go after it.

The last remnants of my meditation showed a flash of Guoki transforming, Yusuke crouched down in pain. I left the park before taking off in the direction I saw Yusuke would be fighting in. I came up just as he fired his spirit gun inside Gouki, effectively getting rid of him and freeing the trapped souls.

"You know, I'm glad someone finally got rid of him. He's been nothing but trouble," I said walking over to help Botan get Yusuke up on two feet. "I was beginning to fear the worst when I saw Gouki would transform. Sorry I'm not a very fast demon, I would have tried to help."

"At least all of the souls are fine. I can't believe I almost lost my head to get back one item. I'm scared to think what two more will take."

"Well we can worry about that when the time comes. For right now, we should think about how to get you though a city full of people. I can't exactly levitate you home."

Awhile later…

"Yusuke, can't you just admit it would be easier to lean on my shoulder?" Botan asked.

My idiot brother was insisting on walking on his own, even though he was about to keel over.

"Right. Can't you just admit it would be embarrassing?"

The demon compass Botan had given him started to go off, cutting off whatever she had been about to say. I immediately started scanning minds in the crowd around us. Soon, the red head from the clearing, Kurama, walked though the crowd. The three of us watched him, though while the other two were weary, I was watching with speculation, wondering what he was after. I knew he wouldn't attack in a crowd, I had heard in his mind that he only wanted to talk.

He was quick to reassure us.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of fighting you. Nor do I intend to flea. In fact, I came to ask you a favor."

'_Is he crazy?'_ I heard Yusuke think.

"Give me three days," Kurama said. "After that, I will gladly give you the Forlorn Hope."

And he just walked away. Yusuke finally accepted Botan's help with walking home, but I just stood there. He just walked by not even three feet from me and nothing. No recognition, acknowledgement, nothing.

I slowly turned and followed my brother home, eyes down, hands in my pockets, a lost puppy with its tail between its legs. Everything we'd been though, and he doesn't even know me from the crowd.

* * *

Botan and Yusuke were discussing the newest development in the case, punctuated occasionally by a shout of pain from Yusuke as Botan treated his wounds, while I just listened, hoping to make some sense out of what was happening. I was brought into full attention when Yusuke said he thought we should trust Kurama.

"What?! But his teammate tried to rip you apart!"

"I know, Botan. But when I walked in on them, he was leaving the agreement. His eyes, they looked more sad than evil."

"Really wish I knew more about this guy," Botan sighed regretfully. "We don't know anything for sure." She sneaked a glance at me. I knew what that glance meant.

_Unless you would like to tell us something._

I looked back out at the almost full moon and felt sadness fall upon me. How many times had we come to human world together for one of his steals and then stayed a little longer for a night under the full moon? I could almost imagine that he was sitting behind me again, gently holding me against his front.

Little did I know he was actually standing on the next roof top watching us, wondering why a certain girl was so familiar…

Once the day of our meeting with Kurama arrived, Botan left us near the address we were given and went to spirit world to get more information on the Forlorn Hope.

Yusuke and I arrived at the address given, a hospital, and followed Kurama inside. He brought us up to a room with a middle aged woman inside. Yusuke gave me a side long glance as if to say 'what the heck'.

She was beautiful, but appeared very ill. She slowly sat up to greet us. "It's been such a long time since you've brought friends."

Kurama immediately reached to help her. "It's aright mother, you don't have to sit up."

I watched in shock. Was that really my Kurama? He was being so gentle - not at all like what I remember him being most of the time. Yusuke had a silly little grin on – I could tell he was surprised as well. And wait… Mother???

Kurama tried to get her to eat something, reminding her of her need for nutrients.

"Of course. It's just so hard to remember all these things, Shuichi."

"Well try to remember. I need you to get better."

'_What in the world?! Shuichi? Who is that? His name's Kurama.'_ I felt my eye twitch. A glance at Yusuke's thoughts showed the same thing. He just couldn't hide the shock from showing on his face.

Kurama… er, Shuichi, excused us from his mother (who I was quickly growing attached to - she just seemed so sweet) shortly after, and led us up to the roof of the hospital to explain.

'_This oughta be good…'_

"Shuichi is the name I've taken in my human form. That woman is my mother… sort of."

He went on to explain how this had happened. Although I already knew some of the story, I wanted to know what exactly happened after I thought he had been killed. And as odd as the situation was, every part of me was absolutely blissful knowing that my mate was alive and safe. Not to mention handsome as all get out. That is, until I heard what he said next.

He was going to use the Forlorn Hope to save his mother's life.

And I had spent enough time with him in his prime to pay attention to what some treasures can do. He would have to give up his life for this. And I would lose him again.

A nurse came up and found us. Kurama's mother had gotten worse. And as much as I would like to have him back in my life, I couldn't stand to see his mother like that. She seemed too innocent, and far too much like my own mother had been so long ago.

I could feel the pain going though both mother and son's minds.

Kurama summoned the spirit of the mirror and made his wish.

"Hey!" Yusuke shouted. "Will you just hold on a second?! Maybe there's another way we can do this!"

"No. There isn't."

The words were so final. As soon as the mirror started to draw out Kurama's life energy, I couldn't help it. I had to watch as he appeared to die the first time; I wouldn't watch as he actually died. I ran to him and put my hand over his.

"What are you doing?!"

"Yeah, Kaya. What do you think you're doing?! You're the smart one! This isn't smart!"

"Shut up Yusuke!"

"It's my wish. Why are you doing this? You barely even know who I am."

I looked over at the confused green eyes. He still didn't know it was me. "And since when did I ever do something that made sense around you? I watched the hunter go after you, Youko. There was nothing I could do to help. This time I can. Besides, now you have a mother to live for who loves you."

Recognition came into his eyes. "Akari? Is that you?"

I smiled over at him. "Please watch over your mother as she gets better."

The energy from the mirror burst out around us. I saw Kurama's small smile for a second before seeing nothing.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see Botan and Yusuke leaning over me.

"Hey, I'm still alive." They looked at me like I had three heads.

"Well no duh you're alive. Now would you like to explain WHAT THE HELL YOU WERE THINKING?!"

I ignored my brother's outburst. "Guess that didn't make a whole lota sense what I just did. I didn't want to lose him but then I would be gone. Speaking of which, where'd he go?" I looked all around but he wasn't there.

"He went to check on his mother. The mirror decided not to take a life because you were both willing to give up your lives for another."

"Thanks Botan. And here Yusuke. You now have the Forlorn Hope. Go knock yourself out. Literally." I tossed him the mirror as Botan and I laughed at the look on his face.

"The Spirit Detectives strike again! And to think I doubted your brother, the Great Yusuke. I thought he would screw this up for everyone."

I laughed. "Since when did he screw up with me around?"

"You know, I like 'the Great Urameshi' more…"

"We'll negotiate it later. Let's go check on Kurama and his mom, and then go check on our own mother."

"Planning to make a move on him Kaya?" Botan asked with a sly look.

I smiled with a wink. "Not yet. I need to plan. You know how hard it is to catch a fox."


	3. Chapter 3

Not much to say... but I plan to finish the next chapter sooner than this one.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything except Kaya.

* * *

Two items recovered, one demon dead, one demon turned in, and said turned- in demon my past mate. Great. Now just one item and one demon to go.

How we were going to deal with this last one was beyond me. This guy is way more powerful than Gouki could ever dream of being and there's no way he'll use the sword for anything good. However, I would guess he's power hungry enough to want the other two items as well as his own.

Question is, what's he gonna do to get them?

"Kaya. Hey Kaya! Wait up!"

I froze._ 'Huh?'_

"Kaya, I wanted to ask you something."

I slowly turned around. Oh, it was just AJ. I let out a sigh. _'Great… groupie number one. At least it's not another demon. I think I'm getting paranoid again.'_

He walked up next to me, just a little too close. There was a slightly suspicious smile plastered on his face.

"I'm just going to come out and ask. Would you like to go to a movie with me this Friday? If you're not busy of course," he quickly added.

Wow. Last question I expected after thinking about demons. _'Oh boy, what do I say? I really don't want to encourage him any …'_

So I did what had done the most damaging and the most amazing things to my life. I spoke without thinking. Not smart for someone who deals with seeing future events.

"I'm sorry AJ. I have a boyfriend." _'Crap, what made me say that? What if he asks who it is? I don't know if Kurama is free from prison, let alone still interested! And now I'm just assuming he's going to stay with me… I think Koenma took away most of my rationality when I called in that favor…'_

"Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I will just see you around then."

As much as I wanted AJ to back off, I felt kinda bad at the look on his face. He looked so sad. Even his mind was filled with grumbling about no one liking him. "Look, I'm sorry. Maybe if I wasn't seeing someone…" Oh, wrong thing to say. Again.

A triumphant smile lit up his face. "Then I'll still be waiting if you need a shoulder to cry on. See ya 'round babe!" He kissed my cheek and ran off.

'_Wha… what just happened??'_

"Stupid jerk! _' _It's a long story._'_ I'll bet it is!" a voice broke through my dumbstruck brain. I turned to see Keiko stalking past me with a nasty grimace on her face. This day just keeps pulling out surprises.

"Um, Keiko? What happened?"

"Oh nothing. Just ask your jerk brother and his new girlfriend!" she spat at me before turning a corner.

'_Wow. That's one of the scariest things I've ever seen. What did Yusuke do?'_

I promised myself to ask at the end of our next class together. Which lucky me, was a literature class. Can it get anymore boring for someone who was there when the books were written?

I never got the chance to ask what happened between the two. About half way though class, Yusuke's demon compass began to go off. Mr. Takanaka stopped in the middle of his lecture about the works of Plato to ask where Yusuke thought he was going.

"Sorry old man," he yelled while running out the door. "Mom's callin'."

'_Bad excuse dimwit.'_

I got up and followed him. "I'm sorry sir. He'll have the report done by the end of the week."

"Make sure he does it on his own Miss Urameshi!"

'_Yes, because we all know I want to do an extra paper.'_

I caught up to Yusuke and saw Botan running next to him. "Okay what happened? Who made the compass go screwy? I'm guessing it was Hiei. I saw a quick flash of him in a vision earlier and we've been going for more than a mile, so Yusuke can't possibly be responsible for it, he's not strong enough. Not to mention he's the last thief left of the group. By the way, what did you do to Keiko, Yusuke?"

Yusuke gawked at me before asking Botan if I had always done this.

"Um, yes she has been known to do this from time to time. Remember that she has to control several trains of thought at once, so she's used to it." She turned back to me. "Now to fill you in Kaya, Hiei is manipulating his energy to lead us to him. Mind you he's a telepath, though not nearly as strong as your powers, you should still be alert. He's been telling me terrible things, among them that he has taken Keiko."

'_Oh crap. Now I'm glad I'm here. Yusuke's not ready for this.'_ "Let me guess. He wants the other two artifacts."

I heard no response. That must mean I'm right.

We reached the docks the compass had been leading us to.

I gave a low whistle. "This guy's got some power, probably will have more in the future. But I don't think it's all his in there. He must have used the sword already."

"Then let's stop wasting time." Yusuke pushed open the doors of Hiei's hide out. "Get out here, Hiei! I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Real subtle, bro. Real subtle."_ "Please stop pissing off an already moody demon."_

"_But Hiei's got Keiko!"_

"One track mind."

"I certainly can agree with you, girl," a snide voice said.

A bunch of blank faced humans approached us from behind the boxes in the warehouse. None of these belonged to the voice.

"Who are these creeps?"

"They're humans Yusuke. Their minds are just being controlled, although this is a rather large number to control at one time. I presume Hiei can use a Jagan if he's controlling this many."

"Oh well done." We finally located the demon in the middle of the group of humans. "You're quite astute for a human girl. Very knowledgeable and spiritually strong."

'_Excuse me?! I think not!'_ My eye twitched. Just because my energy level was currently rather low does not mean I am human. "You didn't let me finish kid. You're doing a poor job of controlling them. And I AM NOT a human, thank you."

Ohh that made him mad. I didn't have to hear his thoughts to know that. He began to pace toward us. We could now see that he did in fact have a Jagan.

"Whoa, that's one big pimple."

"Idiot, that's the Jagan," Botan hissed at Yusuke.

"Oh, and I don't need a Jagan to control someone's mind." I couldn't help my smug smile. I was apparently in the mood to be pissy.

Hiei growled. "I should kill you for your disrespect, but I think I could use your information. Besides, my fight today is with the detective."

'_Smart boy.'_

"Now that we're back to me, where's Keiko?!"

"Right here." He gestured to some of the controlled humans holding up an unconscious Keiko. "You were able to take out Gouki, so you must have some strength. I decided to take the girl for insurance."

"What do you plan to do with her?"

"Nothing more if you've brought me the weapons."

Yusuke pulled out the two artifacts we had attained and handed them over to Hiei.

"Good boy. You may have the girl back." The zombies tossed Keiko to the ground just as we ran to her. Something was slightly off about the situation though. It was way too easy.

"Finally, all three weapons are in my control. Those fools in charge will soon bow to me."

"You know, you really shouldn't brag so much. It'll only make it more embarrassing when you lose. Now that I have Keiko back, I'm gonna beat your ass right back to Spirit World!"

"Ha. You can try. I'll give you a head start."

"I'm getting really sick of that cocky little laugh!" Yusuke lunged at Hiei, just hitting the after image.

'_He's fast… faster than I can follow at the moment.'_

"He vanished!"

"I'm still here. I merely stepped gently to the side. I can hardly believe that was a real attempt at a hit."

'_Please stay calm Yusuke. Don't let him get to you.'_

"Oh and as for Keiko, did you really think I would relinquish my hostage without the reward? Look at her closely, detective. You'll see that she's still mine."

"You're lying!" Yusuke raced over to check Keiko. I finally noticed something that normally would have been obvious to me.

Hiei had cut her with the Shadow Sword. She now had a demonic eye.

"Botan quick! The eye is opening!" I already had a hand over the eye with spirit and demon energy pouring out to keep it closed. Botan quickly added her energy to the effort.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a copy of Hiei's Jagan, Yusuke. If it opens she'll become a low class demon under his control."

"Hiei…" he growled out.

"She's right detective. Soon, dear Keiko will be serving me."

I peeked up at my brother's frightened face. He really did care for Keiko. "Don't worry Yusuke. Botan and I can keep it closed. Knock him out for us."

"Go ahead. But you better do it fast – I can feel the energy they are losing trying to keep the eye closed."

Yusuke looked over to me. _"Yes it is draining; I haven't slung energy around like this for awhile. If I have to, I will keep it closed with my mind, but it will stay closed. You haven't seen _anything _of what I can do."_

That appeared to calm him slightly. "Just hurry up and drop kick the punk, alright?"

He gave me a nod before turning back to Hiei. "Let's go."

Short stuff started to laugh. "I'm glad you're so enthused. The game will be more exciting this way."

"What game?"

Hiei lifted the sword. "The hilt of this sword is hollow, containing the only antidote to stop the swords effect. If you get the sword, the girl will live. Fun, right?"

It was my turn to glare. "Yusuke, move it. I'm very close to showing him my brand of 'fun'."

Yusuke gave a quick burst of speed and managed a hit on Hiei. I began to tune out of the fight and focused on Keiko. Botan knew to leave well enough alone about my previous comment. She knew I would force the full extent of my power out if things went sour. But for now, we had work to do.

As the fight progressed, there were plenty of taunts thrown back and forth with a couple of energy spikes from Hiei's unchecked anger. For once I was quite happy to be so focused on something that I couldn't hear his no doubt murderous thoughts. That is, until he decided to transform.

The energy coming off of Hiei caused the third eye on Keiko's head to react, sending energy sparks out at Botan and my hands. Botan shrank away from the eye with a pained shout.

"You okay Botan?"

"I'm not sure I can help you fight it much longer at this level. I don't have enough power."

"That's fine. Just be ready to heal everyone later. I can handle this part," I gave a terse answer.

Hiei wasted no time once he transformed to put Yusuke into psychic bonds. Immediately after, Yusuke was slammed into the floor with a painful sounding 'smack'.

"I have a great idea. How about I give you a choice." Hiei grabbed the sword as he spoke. "I can end your life now, or if you prefer, I can turn you into a demon."

I stared up at the fight again. _'Is this guy totally sadistic? Or just mental?'_

He laughed again. "You want me to choose? Fine by me." He lunged at Yusuke.

I closed my eyes._ 'No! I can't stop the sword and hold the eye closed - I'm not in full control again yet!'_ I heard the soft slice of the blade through flesh and Botan's gasp. But I didn't hear a body fall.

"You really have gone insane!"

'_Huh?'_

Another slice and I heard Hiei shout in pain.

"Kaya, look up. You'll want to see this." I looked up at Botan and then over at Yusuke.

Kurama had come to help us and took the sword strike through his stomach. And he was now explaining to Yusuke how Hiei's extra eyes work... _'Oh of all the times for a strategy lesson Kurama! In the middle of a fight with a hole in your body? Really?!' _I shook my head. This fight was almost over; I just couldn't yet see how it would end.

Kurama began to stagger towards us. "Botan, please go help him over. I'm good for now." She gave me a nod and I turned my attention back to Keiko.

In no time, the sound of someone dropping to the floor reached my ears. "You're trying to keep the eye closed? I thought you were having troubles controlling your powers. Your energy was so low when you came to help me."

I nearly laughed. "It's because I'm using everything to a bare minimum. Almost all my energy is going to Keiko – if I weren't having control problems, I would also be able to assist Yusuke. As it is I'm going to have a major headache from this."

"What in the three worlds is Yusuke doing?" We both looked over at Botan. She was watching Yusuke shuffle along the base of the wall, Hiei following his every move. Apparently, he had recovered from the blood that had gotten into his Jagan.

All of us watched as Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun – and then watched as Hiei jumped right over it.

"My, what an ace you had up your sleeve. Too bad you wasted it on poor aim." No sooner had Hiei spoken then a blast of energy flew into his back. "How? You missed…"

Everyone looked behind him. There sat the Forlorn Hope. "I see," Kurama spoke. "He reflected his energy off of the mirror."

I watched Hiei fall unconscious and looked down, seeing the eye on Keiko's head slowly close, the energy disappearing from it. Finally, I took my hand from her forehead and made my way over to sit next to the slumped over red head. "I am so glad that's over. However, now I have to take care of you." I gave him a pointed look towards his stomach. This wouldn't be the first time I had needed to bandage up an injury to that area.

He had the good grace to look sheepish. "Maybe we should help Yusuke with the girl first."

I gave him one last glare and looked back to where my brother held the now separated sword and hilt.

"A couple drops should do it, Yusuke. The eye will quickly disappear."

"Alright, we'll listen to the smart guy." He lifted the hilt to Keiko's mouth and let a few drops fall. Within seconds, the eye completely disappeared. "Good bye Keiko monster."

I leaned back and laughed. "Wait 'til Keiko hears that one Yusuke."

He turned pale. "Shut up Kaya."

"You know Yusuke, I still can't believe what you did back there."

"Oh and what's that Botan?"

"Why didn't you tell me your Spirit Gun could bounce off of mirrors? When did you figure that out?"

Yusuke scratched the back of his head with a guilty smile. "A few minutes ago…"

Botan and I yelped at the same time. "What do you mean?!"

"Well, Hiei was way to fast, so I thought, 'hey why not hit him from the back'. Then I saw the mirror behind him and decided to give it a try."

I sat in near shock. No wonder I couldn't see how the fight would end. "So you had no idea what you were doing? It was a split second decision?"

"One time in science they bounced light off of mirrors and I thought it might work out the same."

Kurama grabbed my hand before I could lunge at my so called brother. "Might?! You risked the fight on a might? What you have done if it hadn't worked idiot?"

"Ah, probably get chopped into little pieces."

I heard a faint chuckle behind me. "And all the while we thought you were a brilliant strategist. Really you're just a lucky fool."

"_No arguments there. Please tell me you could have helped if it had gone wrong."_

Kurama stared at me in surprise. Guess it had been awhile since he heard me in his head._ "Sorry, but I was not and am not in any position to physically help much with anything at the moment, so it was all up to Yusuke."_

My brother interrupted our mental conversation. "Watch it fox boy! What does that word mean anyway?"

'_Idiot.'_

"A strategist is someone who uses their brain."

"Unlike you, dear brother."

"Now, now everyone, calm down before Keiko wakes up."

"Guess I should take her home. Botan, you can take three eyes over there to Spirit World and Kaya if you can maybe help out Kurama."

I was already wiping up the blood. "Of course Yusuke. I'll see you at home later."

Kurama and I watched him pick up Keiko and waited until both Yusuke and Botan had left before turning back to each other.

"So… how about we get this wound stable and then I help you walk home?"

He offered a small smile. "That would fine, thank you."

I began adding my own energy to what Kurama was already poring into the wound. "Akari, you don't have to expend any more energy. Just help me wrap the cut after the bleeding slows."

"I know, but I want to help. It's been so long since I've been able to do anything for you."

He sighed. "Yes, about that. You and I need to sit down and discuss what we will do now that we know we're both alive and well. But for now," he removed my hand from his stomach, "keep what is left of your energy after draining so much on Keiko."

"When did you become so polite?" I slapped my hands over my mouth. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" My anxious expression turned to confusion as he started to laugh.

"Please do not worry about speaking your mind. I have missed that all these years." Kurama took my hands in his. "Akari, I have changed since I began living here. My mother has taught me many things in that time, as well as reinforced what you have taught me."

I gave his hands a squeeze. "I guess we have a lot to learn about each other again, starting with calling me Kaya for now. Although, maybe we could discuss the rest somewhere a little more… pleasant?"

He laughed at the look on my face. "I'd forgotten how adorable that face is. Now, about getting reacquainted, I know of a nice restaurant in town just a couple blocks from your school. It's an American restaurant. We will give ourselves some time to recover from this experience, say two weeks, and meet up then."

"That sounds good." I gazed down at his front. "Um, how are we going to get you through the city with this gaping hole? I can only block an image out of so many peoples' minds…"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Not that I would complain about being alone with you in an abandoned building of course."

My eyes went wide at his words and that irritating little smirk. "Well, one thing certainly hasn't changed. You are just as horny as ever fox."


	4. Chapter 4

Umm... yeah. Last time I said I would update sooner... oh well. Good news is, I'm done with school for the year! Now off to college! Yikes!

So, a quick FYI on ages - there are lengends of kitsunes gaining a tail every hundred years, every thousand years, or just as they gain power. Kurama was living one thousand years ago with Yomi, so I am sticking with the one-tail-every-thousand-years lengend, making Kurama around three thousand years old. Of course, I may change my mind later and use a different legend, but I'll stay with this one for now.

**Disclaimer: By now we all know that I only own Kaya.**

* * *

"_Very well. We shall meet in two weeks. I look forward to seeing you again."_

Two weeks. It's been two weeks since I saw him. Today, I will find out where we stand. I just hope he forgives me for leaving all those years ago.

I ran a nervous hand through my hair one last time before finally stepping through the door to the restaurant we'd agreed to meet at. Unfortunately, I would be the first one here, which meant more waiting and worrying. I had just seen his mother ask him to make a delivery to their neighbor's house – this would be an extra five minutes.

I sat down in a small booth towards the front; the sun was shining and I was hoping to get to the park and meditate again soon. The little tug I had felt the one time had yet to make any reappearance. Hopefully, going back to that spot will bring it back. There was something indescribably important feeling about whatever was behind the tug.

My musings were cut short when someone slid into the seat across from me.

"Hello."

"Good afternoon. I trust you've been well?"

"No need to be so proper with me, Kurama. It doesn't fit the times, not to mention that it's never been used with me and probably never will. Nearly no one sees me as worth the effort. I'm used to it."

His face glazed over in sadness. "I know. That is why I will always give you the respect so many others don't deem you fit to have."

"Maybe because they are right."

He gave me a sharp look as he opened his mouth to try to correct me. I cut him off.

"Don't say it, I've lived through it. Even you treated me the same when we first met. Doesn't change much – I'll always be viewed as a weapon to gain possession of. Besides, today's purpose isn't to discuss any of that."

"You are right. Let's order some lunch and go from there."

After ordering, Kurama sat back in his seat with his arms crossed and a neutrally polite face. I knew that look. I began to laugh.

"What?"

I kept laughing. "You always had that look when you settled in for a necessary but most likely unpleasant talk. It won't work on me. You have to be apart of this conversation." By now my laughter was under control. "We both have a lot we need to get out."

He leaned over and took one of my hands when he saw my now depressed look. He understood immediately what I was referring to. "I know. But I will stay and listen until you ask me to leave. You know this."

I sighed. "Yes, I do."

Our food arrived before I had the chance to say much else. I peeked over at his plate of grilled chicken. If I remembered correctly…

"You honestly still like peas and dandelions in your salad? Better question – they actually _serve _that? I thought that was just a stage you were going through."

He huffed. "There is nothing unusual about peas or dandelions being in a salad. You, on the other hand, still dislike meat?" he gestured toward my picked apart sandwich.

I pulled a disgusted face. "Meat's gross. The texture's weird and I don't like the aftertaste. It reminds me of the smell of an awful area of Makai I was once dragged to."

"Sorry. I hadn't known it would be that bad."

Kurama and I ate in silence for the most part after that. When we finally pushed our plates aside he broke the silence.

"How has Yusuke been since the encounter with Hiei?"

I began to fidget. I hated it when I was on the receiving end of his scrutinizing stares. I just knew he was trying to figure out where this conversation was heading.

"He's doing well. At the moment he is training with the old psychic Genkai. Knowing Yusuke, he is probably cussing up a storm at having to follow the old bat's orders." I gazed over at Kurama's small grin. "How is your mother doing? Much better I would hope."

Kurama's smile grew bigger. "She is growing stronger and healthier by the day. She also won't stop asking about you – she seems quite taken with you. I would bet a good deal that she hopes to see you and me together one day."

'_If only that would come true,' _I mentally sighed. _'I suppose I should start explaining. I really don't want to upset him though.'_

He beat me to it. "You know, I didn't recognize you when I first saw you. You looked so different."

"I had reached maturity when you first met me in Makai. I look about seven years younger at the moment. I'll stop aging again once I hit about twenty-two – just like before."

"How exactly did you end up in this situation?"

I turned my gaze to my lap as I took a deep breath to ease the tension I felt building in my chest.

"After I heard of your death, I went to Koenma. I decided to ask him if I could start over in the human world, at least for awhile. It seemed like a good time for a change of pace. As it is I'll probably leave in about ten or twelve years. People would start asking questions about why I'm not aging." It was an unfortunate fact of my line - we stop aging at maturity until we give birth to a daughter to inherit our psychic abilities. Even after that we don't age very quickly. "Anyway, Koenma allowed for me to revert back to when I was born with all memories intact, altering the memories of everyone in the hospital to think I was the twin of Yusuke Urameshi. It would appear as one of those cases where there was an undetected twin. All documents were provided with no one the wiser. All I really wanted was some time to live without feeling hunted."

We were both quiet. I knew he was waiting for me to continue. My eyes traced the lines of his throat until they eventually locked with his own emerald orbs. _'Now or never.'_

"I am so sorry, Kurama. I had to leave. If I had stayed, nothing I could have done would've helped you in anyway. You would have been killed." No need now to say how he would have died.

I watched his eyes turned desolate.

"I searched for you - Kuronue and myself both. We couldn't find you. After he died, I continued to search, following leads and any little bit of information I could force out. Never once did I find a real trail. I thought you were dead."

I really wanted to cry at the moment. He wasn't yelling, he never did, but this was worse. His low voice was seeped with despair and his hands were fisted so tight his knuckles had turned white.

I let myself slump back against my seat. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't go back. I had to protect us both. If what I saw came to pass you would have died and I would be long since caught." I could only tell him this tiny part of the truth. I had left to keep us both alive, but if he knew the most important part… the reason he would have died… he's not ready to know yet.

Kurama slowly reached back toward me. "Would we have really? I would have done anything to protect you – that's part of why I mated you."

I rolled my eyes. Of course. Leave it to Youko Kurama to play the power card. _'I would have done anything to protect you my ass. He has no idea.' _"Yeah, sure, I was just going to let my mate be put in death's way by sticking around. No way."

He let loose a slight growl as he clenched his hand. "I do not appreciate the sarcasm Kaya."

"Why shouldn't I be sarcastic? You can just do whatever and leave your mate at home with her visions to figure out if you would ever come back and I can't walk off the property without giving you a full report?"

Kurama took a deep breath. "Stop grasping at straws. We are here to discuss the future, not the past. Besides, I was never gone for more than a few weeks – you were gone for over one hundred years."

He was right, not that I was thrilled by the thought. We both did what we had to. "I did try to keep an eye on you, but your lifestyle was so sporadic I couldn't do much to help without you knowing it was me."

"Couldn't you have at least told me you were going to leave?"

If it weren't for the context of that question, I would have laughed. "Kurama, if I had told you I wanted to leave, you would have thrown me over your shoulder and carried me off to one of your abandoned hide-outs. I wouldn't have been allowed to leave the vicinity until you had proven why staying with you was my best option."

He lifted his lips into a smirk. "You know you would have enjoyed every second from the moment I had you over my shoulder. But you still could have told me _before_ I went mad with worry." I bowed my head.

"I couldn't. I am truly sorry for every pain it caused you. I wanted to come back, so badly. And then I heard you were dead. I called in that favor to Koenma and now know that you are alive and well." I stretched my hand the rest of the way to grasp his. "So much has happened, but I still want to come back to you."

Kurama gave my hand a small squeeze. "I know you're not telling me everything Kaya, but then again you never have." I sent him a pointed glare. "I know, neither have I. However, you've always had good reasons behind the secrecy, so I am willing to be patient. You will eventually tell me. Until then, I would like to try again."

I stared at him in confusion. What did he mean 'try again'?

He chuckled. "I want to court you. And for real this time, not the half hurried job I did last time. We need to get to know each other again, don't you agree?"

"Do you think? Last time we all of kissed once and then our next real intimate physical contact was the mating ritual! Hardly romantic by anyone's standard." Kurama chuckled again as he lifted my hand to his lips.

"You are correct. We should have done it right the first time. How about we start with going to the park and explain what we've been up to for the past fifteen years of human life?" He pulled me to my feet before I had a chance to argue.

"It sounds great, Kurama. I just have one question though. I'm not worried about mom, but how are we going to tell Yusuke?"

There was no answer to that question.

* * *

"Are you serious? Do you have any idea how wrong that sounds coming from you? Man, I would've loved to see that. And you thought you were _such_ the ladies' man." Of all the ridiculous stories he would pick up… the great Makai thief not knowing what a bra was topped the list. But I guess I never really knew what one was until I lived in the human world either so…

"You can not criticize me for that lack of knowledge. You didn't wear one when we were together, so you certainly didn't know what it was either."

"Of course not. They hadn't been invented yet," I huffed.

Kurama laughed. "Alright, I suppose I can except that excuse. But now I am curious, how come you seem to be so…exuberant? Your behavior is so cheerful."

I bit my lip in thought. What could I say to that? "I guess I've just relaxed a bit. Not that I wasn't happy and relaxed before, it's just now…"

He looked at me curiously. "What?"

I led him down the pathway that led to the park's koi pond before answering. "I haven't been attacked or hunted down in nearly fifteen years Kurama. In the Makai, I always had to be on guard. But here it's different - it's normally such a comfortable… atmosphere… here…" I began to trail off. We had walked right up to the bench I had meditated on previously, and my mind snapped back to the tugging that had thrown me out of my meditation.

I could not get that tug off of my mind. Something like that had never happened, and to have it happen right after my involvement with other demons started again… it's too much of a coincidence.

"Kaya. Kaya!"

I started. "Huh? Oh, I'm so sorry, I just remembered something…"

Kurama lifted a brow. "You remembered something that was able to make you stop not only in the middle of walking but also the middle of a conversation? Out with it my dear, this has only happened to you with something important."

I sighed. You couldn't get around anything with that man. Might as well say it now. "It's really not important, but a few days before Yusuke and I met up with you to save your mother, I came to this park and meditated on that bench. I was able to go deeper than I've been able to recently, when this little tug sort of nudged its way in. I tried to go deeper into the tug, but it literally kicked me out of my meditating. I haven't felt it since then."

"But you haven't truly meditated since then, have you."

"Not in that spot or that deeply, no."

"Well then, we will worry about that when and if it happens again. Today is about us."

He took my hand and led me to a different bench, likely to try to bring a lighter edge to our conversation. "May I ask, have your tastes changed or do you still enjoy fine art?"

I took back my hand and wrapped it around his arm. "As long as you aren't planning to steal anything, then that would be fine. But afterward, we have to do something that's actually considered fun."

For the first time in years I got to see the legendary bandit throw back his head and laugh.

_6 months later…_

It had been six months since Yusuke went to train with Genkai and since Kurama and I decided what we were going to do now that we're both living as human teenagers.

And I must say, this has to be one of the slowest courting periods in demon history. Six months and the great thief known for his numerous lovers has barely gotten around to giving me a peck on the cheek at the end of a date! He wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to take his time.

But still, I certainly won't complain – I would never be able to say how wonderful it was to have my lover back in my life. Even if I did have to deal with his little "fan club".

My first encounter with the many adoring followers of "Shuichi" was interesting to say the least; not even my own AJ from school was as bad as these girls. I must say I am proud I didn't back down.

I had stopped at Kurama's school a couple of times for an afternoon walk with him – just one of those lazy strolls around town – until one day I got out of school early and had to wait for him to finish class. Unfortunately, _they_ were waiting.

I honestly could have laughed once I saw the ridiculous pins they were all wearing, but managed to hold it in as one of the girls stepped toward me.

"How do you know Shuichi?" she demanded.

I still wanted to laugh. "Old friend of mine. Why do you ask?" _'Feh, obvious why – she's jealous. Don't even have to look in her head for that.'_

She grimaced. "You've been hanging out alone with him. Everyone within four districts knows no one is allowed to go out with him. Look but don't touch," she finished with a satisfied smirk. I just gave her a small smile. The boy was already mine anyway – there was nothing she could do that would ever affect that – except give us a few laughs now and then.

"Guess it's a good thing I'm not part of those districts." I glanced over her shoulder. Now there was an expression I never would have imagined even in my wildest dreams. I didn't know Youko Kurama could make such a face. I could definitely have fun with this… "Hi Shuichi! How are you this fine and lovely afternoon? You never told me you had such good friends."

He leveled a fierce glare my way. I only smiled.

"Good afternoon Kaya, ladies. May I ask what I have missed of this little introduction?"

The girl who appeared to be the groups' 'leader' immediately ran up to latch onto Kurama's arm. "Oh, not much. We were just… welcoming your little friend."

I nearly gagged. _"How do you stand being touched by that thing? And do NOT bring up that Youko would have eaten this kinda thing up."_

He grimaced. _"I can not stand it. Did they hurt you?_

I gave him back a simpering smile for an answer before walking up to the giggling bimbo and physically removing her hand from my man's arm. "Would you mind? As pleasant as this meeting has been, Shuichi and I have an appointment to get to. Good day." I had promptly dragged Kurama away after taking enough control of the girls' metal capacity to stop any further annoyances from them.

"You're controlling them aren't you?" Kurama laughed.

I hadn't even deemed that worth an answer. Today though, I was not going to let those girls anywhere near us. I had a plan and my mate was going to enjoy having a break from school, rabid fan girls, and family health problems. Mom would be gone until after night fall this evening and Yusuke would most likely be with Keiko the rest of the day to make up for being gone for the past six months. So this was the perfect time to stay at home and pamper the battered fox demon. That and I had to start making it up to him for having left at some point.

No sooner had I thought that than the man of the day knocked on the apartment door. I bounded out of the kitchen and to the front door, throwing it open to reveal Kurama's startled face. I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck with the demon speed I hadn't used in years. "Hi!"

"Well, someone certainly is excited today. Do I want to know what you've been planning if you are this keyed up?"

I laughed at his still surprised expression before giving him a quick peck on his lips. "Of course you want to know! Who knows better how to relax you than the woman who has been you mate for centuries?" I let go of his neck and grabbed his hand to pull him into the apartment, only to give up any hope of budging him when Kurama remained frozen on the door step.

I looked back at him. "Kurama? Is something wrong?" He just stared at me for a moment with an odd light in his eyes. I turned to him fully. "Kurama?"

In answer, he swiftly picked me up and pushed my back against the now closed door. Before I had time to see what was going through his mind Kurama suddenly moved his lips to cover mine, forcing his tongue into my mouth. He dominated any and all movement I attempted, effectively proving he would always be the alpha of our mating.

I tried to match each probe made into my mouth, but lost my train of thought when his wonderfully gentle hands turned rough as they moved from my hair to slowly inch up toward my chest. I came back into the game with a small nip to his tongue when he suddenly froze in his movements.

I pulled back from him as much as I could when I realized what made him stop – the communicator Botan had left for me was going off.

I gave Kurama a quick glare – he wouldn't get off me - before reaching my mind out to create a shield around the communicator and lifted it over to where I was trapped tightly against the door. I grabbed it and popped it open, Kurama and myself immediately cringing at the sound of the spirit prince's shrill voice. "Koenma, shut up and slow down!"

Koenma's mouth snapped shut as he glared at me. He began again only this time slower and at a more pleasant pitch. "Your brother and his spiritually aware friend are currently on their way to Maze Castle in Makai. I want you, Kurama, and Hiei to join them. You three are to assist as needed."

I glanced at Kurama and saw a calculating look had replaced the lustful stare I had finally recognized was present not thirty seconds earlier. "So you want us to… Wait, you sent my brother and Kuwabara to Maze Castle on their OWN!? Are you insane? The Saint Beasts will rip them apart!"

"Relax. Botan just sent them in. There won't be enough time before you get there for them to screw up."

"You'd better be right. So what exactly do you want us to do when we 'assist'?"

Koenma waved a hand at me. "Oh, you know, the usual: saving Kuwabara, fighting Yusuke's battles for him, the like." He paused as his eyes widened in what had to be realization. "Uh, Kaya? Why are you so close to Kurama?"

We stared at him. I know Koenma's still young by Spirit World standards, but really?

"Perhaps you should worry about telling us where to go so we are able to help rather than worry why two mates are alone together," Kurama answered with a very testy air. Apparently, some one still didn't like having his private time interrupted.

Koenma winced. "Sure… I'll just send the coordinates of the portal to the communicator and leave you guys to it. I've already contacted Hiei, so you know. Bye!" The screen suddenly clicked off. I looked back up at Kurama's face._ 'Why is he still so close?'_

"Um… do you want to move? Just a little?"

He continued to stare at me. "No."

"Okay… do you want to tell me why you just initiated something truly worthy of a kitsune?"

He shrugged. "You are - well, were - my mate. Feeling you so intimately after so long… well, I couldn't resist the invitation."

I watched him in wonder. "If you reacted so strongly to such a small action… you haven't been with anyone since I last saw you have you?"

Kurama lowered his head slightly and moved away from me to open the door. "I kept waiting for you to return. For now, however, I think we should head to Makai and continue this… activity… at a later date. Ladies first?"


End file.
